oct 24/2021

the bus pulled over, it reached the last stop on this route. the bus driver knew them by name at this point. it was raining, and they were cold. they forgot their umbrella again. they were going to get beat for a mistake like this. they thought of some lie to tell whoever was home so they could avoid it. they were waiting under the bus stop to see if the rain would clear up.

it got heavier.

"███!" they heard from behind them. right, she wasn't jess yet. he said her name, a name that would one day become jess. she was just fine with the name. shes still thought she was a girl. if you asked her, she would have said the name was perfect. a pretty name.

jess doesn't remember her name.

"███! ███, i'm here!" they turned to see their brother, umbrella closed in his hand, drenched with rain running to them. their eyes widened and they moved out of the way so he could get under the cover of the bus stop.

he was panting hard as he sat down, letting his large black umbrella fall to the ground. she stood next to him, picking it up and shaking the rain off of it. it was far too big, almost bigger than she was, and she nearly fell over. he gave her a wide grin, brandishing a smaller umbrella. it was light blue and had white clouds on it, ironic considering it was supposed to protect from rain. "ya, you forgot your umbrella." he said, holding it out to her.

"oppa, you didn't even use your umbrella. you're gonna get sick!" she shouted, drying his face with their sleeve. well, she was tactlessly rubbing his face with their arm. it kind of hurt; they were trying though.

"i brought it though, so we could walk home together. i just had to get here fast so you didn't get wet. aigu, i hope you weren't waiting too long." he said, fussing over her slightly damp hair and straightening her shirt.

she giggled, extending the umbrella as he shook out his properly. "gaja," he said, holding out his hand to her while holding his umbrella with the other. she grabbed his hand and started swinging it while they walked. he smiled, slowing his pace as to not tire his baby sister out. the house was the only building out here for kilometres, excluding the neighbours. but their neighbours were even farther, so he didn't really count them.

he saw the flash before he heard the boom, but the lightning struck all the same. it was deafeningly loud and made his sister laugh, and he was relieved that at least she wasn't scared. the rain thundered around them, drowning out his thoughts. he was glad he had an excuse to hold her hand tightly. he didn't know what he'd do if she got hurt on his watch.

"how was school?" he asked, trying to distract himself from the idea of them dying. the only thing worse than his little sister dying would be to watch it and be unable to protect her.

her eyes lit up and she launched into a fast-paced rant about her day, and he understood about half of it as he held her hand and tried to not let them walk into the mud puddles

"lunch was good. did you make it, oppa?" she asked, looking up at him. he smiled but shook his head.

"aegiya, i told you, our neighbour did. you remember him, right? one of my friends." he told her and she scoffed.

"well, i didn't KNOW. maybe you should make lunch." she declared and he laughed. she was so sassy for a seven year old.

"i don't have time, aegi. you know this. anyway, i walk you to the bus stop every morning and i'm always waiting on the porch for you when you come home." he said, taking her umbrella from her hand and holding it for her. she looked like she was getting tired. she said thank you very politely, and grabbed a fistful of his jacket to hold onto instead of his hand.

"can i make breakfast for you?" she asked, and he snorted.

"ya, i don't think you know how to cook."

"i can learn! the neighbour will teach me."

"aegi, he's busy."

"no!!"

"no? 'no' what?"

"not too busy for me!" she giggled, and he laughed. he put an arm around her, briefly getting soaked with rain, in an awkward hug.

"okay, i'll ask him to teach you to cook. but only so you can cook me breakfast, okay?" he teased, but she nodded earnestly.

"ok! breakfast for oppaI every day, i'll make your favourite food and we'll eat together every morning!" she declared, and he smiled. she was too sweet.

they walked in silence for a few moments. the rain didn't come down cold at this time of year this far out in the country, it was warm and muggy and made him feel gross. on the other hand, more often than not the rain gave him the perfect excuse to pick them up from the bus stop. he loved any excuse to spend time with them. he made a promise that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her the day they were born. she deserved better than the turmoil she was born into.

he started taking law courses, anthropology electives, and pretty much anything else that could help him. he wanted to get into family law, and the day that he was able to he wanted to get custody for his little girl and make sure she grows up happy. he wouldn't forgive himself if he wasn't able to do this. he knew how people saw him, as hard working as he was everybody knew that he was just some hick who grew up in the middle of nowhere. but none of that mattered.

they arrived at their house, and she ran inside first to tell their father about their day. he wasn't home yet, so his little sister opted to practice piano instead. he was always impressed at her progress, especially for how young she was. as the melodies rang out through their house with only the occasional slip up, he started on dinner. he mentally cursed their mother for not being there to make it, and leaving him all the work, but it was okay. it was for aegi.

she helped set the table, and got the cushions from their stack. american traditions hadn't really reached them this far out in the countryside, although he wondered what it was like sitting at tables to eat home meals. as he set the food down and she thanked him, his heart swelled. he knew exactly what he wanted to do in life.

he was going to study law. he was going to get the physical proof he needed that his sister deserved to live elsewhere. he was going to prove to the court he could provide for her himself, and that she could stay with him. he was going to move all the way across the world, so their parents would never find them. he would open up his own family law firm, so that other people would never have to go through this. his plan was perfect. nothing could go wrong. jess set the picture down. it was a nice photo of someone who looked remarkably like them. he was in the rain, playing with a little girl. the photo had to be a decade old. this was the first time they'd seen his face in years. they tried to remember more of him, but they couldn't even recall his name. why couldn't they remember him? why didn't they know what happened? where was he now?

no worries, it's not like they could remember hers, either.